A large portion of the National Performance Agreements will become unachievable in the coming years if the government does not ensure sufficient investment capacity, according to housing corporation Aedes. Abolishing the profit tax for housing corporations should resolve this issue.
“We’re not asking for more money; we just don’t want to pay an unjustified tax,” says Aedes Chair Liesbeth Spies. She is sounding the alarm in the run-up to Prinsjesdag.
According to Spies, housing associations need certainty regarding their investment capacity; otherwise, new construction will be put on hold. With the current capacity—on which housing associations are currently basing their decisions—a large portion of the National Performance Agreements will become unachievable. Spies: “In the coming months, housing associations will be making budget decisions to invest in new construction and housing improvements that will be carried out in a few years. They are doing so based on recent economic data, which means they cannot take announced policies into account as long as those policies are not sufficiently certain or fully developed.”
Aedes illustrates this with four maps showing the percentage of the National Performance Agreements that will become unachievable in each housing deal region.
Spies sees the abolition of the profit tax as the only logical solution that costs the government little and yields a great deal. “Every 1 euro less in taxes creates 30 euros in investment capacity. That benefit goes entirely to all the people waiting for a comfortable and affordable home. The question isn’t whether housing cooperatives want to deliver, but whether they’ll be enabled to do so.”
